Skinny Mexican Pork Cheeks

After making my Lower Calorie Chicken Fajitas a couple of weeks back, I got to thinking about how this method of cooking would work really well with my latest favourite cut of meat - pork cheeks.

The lean cheeks need gentle and slow cooking for 2-3 hours to really come into their own and so this makes a great weekend dinner or one to pop into your slow cooker mid-week. They carry flavour really well and with long cooking, become soft, tender and melt-in-the-mouth delicious, so I thought this would be a great dish and happily wasn’t disappointed.

As I’ve raved about before, pork cheeks are incredibly economical – I picked up 300g which is more than sufficient for two people for less than £1.50 – perfect for January when most are feeling the pinch.

This is a great warming winter dish with a smoky spice – serve with some romaine lettuce leaves rather than a wrap and this comes in at just under 450 calories for half of the below. I added 50g of cauliflower rice (coarsely grated cauliflower) fried in the tiniest bit of coconut oil with spring onions and coriander to bring the calorie count up to 510.

I served this with some coriander and spring onion fried cauliflower rice and some romaine lettuce leaves – but if you’re not in fat-fighting mode, this would be great in a wrap or a bun. 

Skinny Mexican Pork Cheeks

Here's how:

• 4 pork cheeks
• 1 packet Old El Paso Smoky Barbecue Fajita Seasoning
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 bay leaves 
• Selection of 2 different coloured bell peppers
• 1 onion
• 1 red onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 red chilli
• 100g mushrooms
• Tin of tomatoes
• 1 tsp Chipotle paste
• 100ml chicken or vegetable stock
• Pinch salt
• Pinch black pepper

Firstly pop the oven on at around 160 degrees and place a non-stick pan on a low heat. Season the pork with half of the Old El Paso seasoning and dry fry to seal each piece of meat then place into a casserole dish.

Now finely slice the onions, mushrooms, garlic, peppers and chilli and add to the pan with the tinned tomatoes, chipotle, cinnamon, remaining Old El Paso, bay leaves and seasoning. Pour over the chicken stock and give a good stir then cover with a lid or some foil.

Now place the dish into the oven for three hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so. The longer you cook this dish for the more tender and delicious the pork cheeks will be – after three hours it will fall apart at the gentlest of touches – not dissimilar to pulled pork.

Tip: If you’re in a huge rush, pop the casserole dish into the microwave for fifteen minutes before placing into the oven and this should shave off 30-45 minutes off of the cooking time.

Pork Cheeks Braised in Cider and Apples

I have been experimenting with pork cheeks a lot lately - they are so delicious slowly braised, and yet one of the cheapest cuts of meat out there. I picked up four cheeks for £1.40 in Morrison's for this particular recipe - bargain.

This recipe calls for a bottle (500ml) of apple cider. I also used some Kentish apples straight from a farm in Hunton, but any cooking apples will do.

The combination of cider, apples plus the parsnip make this quite a sweet dish so I serve alongside some mustard mash or with a jacket potato with oodles of grain mustard to offset the sweetness and with extra vegetables too to ward off any colds or flu now the cold is setting in. This is a favourite batch cook meal too - you can make it, freeze it and it can be on the table in thirty minutes when you get in from work mid-week which makes it a winner in my eyes.

Pork Cheeks Braised in Cider and Apples

Here's how:

• 4 pork cheeks
• 1 onion
• 4 celery sticks
• 2 carrots
• 1 parsnip
• 2 apples
• 1 clove garlic
• 500ml apple cider
• 500ml chicken stock
• Pinch salt & black pepper
• Pinch of dried thyme or few sprigs of fresh
• Drizzle olive oil 

Firstly slice the onion and celery, mince the garlic and add to a casserole pot.

Peel the carrots and parsnip and slice finely then add to the pot. Do the same with the apple.

Now drizzle the oil into a pan and place on a medium heat.

Season the pork cheeks and brown all over in the pan. Once browned, add to the pot and cover with the cider and stock.

Give a good stir, season again and place into the oven for 3 hours.

Remove the casserole dish every 45 minutes- 1 hour and give a stir.

When you remove the casserole from the oven check the meat is perfectly tender, it should fall apart easily if you prod it with a fork.

Serve with your accompaniments and enjoy.

Pork Cheeks with Mushrooms in Rioja

Pork cheeks are an incredibly cheap cut of meat that do take a while to cook, but the results are absolutely wonderful. Slowly cooked, the meat will be tender and melt-in-the-mouth and they can be cooked in lots of different ways. 

Here I opted for Rioja and a selection of mushrooms which was really lovely. You can use any red wine but use a decent wine that you enjoy drinking and then have a glass with the meal. I served here with a jacket potato and kale.

The below is enough for two plus a little extra for the freezer or lunch.

Here's how:

• 400g pork cheeks
• 100g shallots
• 150g celery sticks
• 2 cloves garlic
• 150g mushrooms (mixed varieties)
• 2 glasses of wine
• 1 pint chicken stock
• 2 tbsp flour
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bay leaf

Firstly pop the oven on at 180. 

Peel and halve the shallots and add to a frying pan with the olive oil. Peel and crush the garlic and add to the shallots and then finely slice the celery and again add to the pan. This will be the base for your casserole. 

Slice the mushrooms and add to the pan with the shallots, celery and garlic and allow to cook for a couple of minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so.

In the meantime place the flour into a bowl and season generously. Then pop the pork cheeks into the flour and turn around to ensure each part is coated with the flour.

Remove the shallot and mushroom mixture into a casserole dish, and set aside. And place the pork cheeks into the pan to brown. Once browned on all side, return the mushroom and shallot mixture to the pan and pour over 1 glass of Rioja. Allow to simmer down for two minutes then return to the casserole dish. Pour over the other glass of Rioja, the chicken stock, add the bay leaf and season once more.

Pot a lid onto the casserole dish or cover with foil and place into the oven for approximately 2.5-3 hours - checking every 30 minutes and giving a good stir.

Keep checking the meat, you know it's cooked well once it falls apart easily when touched with a fork.

Serve with your choice of accompaniments - enjoy!

Another busy week - welcoming in September

Once again, time passes so quickly and with so many delicious bites in between that I don’t always have time to include on here, so another short round-up of some of the tasty morsels to have passed my lips in the past week or so. Before I start I feel duty-bound to warn you, it has not been a ‘skinny’ week!

On Friday I went to Portobello Road market for the first time, incredibly quaint and full of eccentrics with a mixture of genuine vintage and not-so-fabulous jumble-sale items, it was a fun way to spend a Friday lunch. Heading back to the office, we stumbled upon the gorgeous Bluebelles Café a gorgeous little café and coffee shop with a number of enticing baked goods on display. I had an iced latte, a ‘Classic’ sandwich of ham and cheese with bread baked on the premises and then an utterly glorious, rich and moist slice of mocha cake which you can see below. A new haunt I fear!

A dinner at my parents with the boyfriend comprised an absolute feast of delicious things including an aubergine parmigianna dish, seafood en papillote – or cooked in a bag with pasta and these utterly delicious little stuffed mushrooms. A simple but incredibly moreish mixture comprising garlic, Gorganzola cheese, finely diced onion and breadcrumbs – phenomenal!

I visited Street Feast on Saturday with my brother Dan and two friends, Jade and Steph and enjoyed an absolute array of gorgeousness. It was the Spanish Street Fiesta theme organised by the lovely Gizzi Erskine, and some of the tasty bits we enjoyed included Salt Yard goats-cheese-stuffed courgette flower drizzled with honey, Copa De Cava’s/ Camino’s delectable pork cheeks with olive oil mash, unbelievably divine rib-tips from Smokestak, pork belly and lamb ribs from Morito as well as delicious Cava Sangria. A fantastic day and some of the deliciousness can be viewed below.

Finally, I attempted my first ever chocolate tart using a recipe from BBC Good Food which you can find here: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3517/chocolate-tart

It wasn’t quite as elegant as I’d like – but with a dollop of Rodda’s clotted cream and a drizzle of the hot chocolate sauce, it wasn’t half bad either!